By Bob Myers On Oct. 25, Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law Senate Bill 941 (sponsored by Jake Corman, R- Centre County), which increased the maximum fines for public drunkenness and underage drinking from $500 to $1,000.

A crew works on a drilling rig at a well site for shale based natural gas in Zelienople, Pa. In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is cheap and plentiful natural gas. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)The Associated Press

Demonstrating the hard-nosed commitment to law enforcement he displayed as attorney general, Gov. Corbett noted that the legislation reflects his philosophy that “justice, in order to work, must be administered with firmness, compassion and common sense.”

Sen. Corman hopes that the bill will provide “a deterrent so that the individual makes better decisions the next time around.”

While on the topic of deterrents, perhaps the Legislature and Gov. Corbett could use the same strategy to address another problem. Despite the slowdown in gas production, the Department of Environmental Protection website suggests that the natural gas drillers aren’t doing any better at obeying the laws designed to protect the state’s environment.

A quick glance at the records of three companies in 2012 reveals the following incidents: On Jan. 18, Range Resources spilled 30 gallons of diesel onto the ground at a site in Washington County. A week later at a Range site in Centre County, three barrels (126 gallons) of treated flowback fluid escaped into the groundwater under the well pad.

On February 1, Anadarko spilled 200 gallons of triethylene glycol onto the containment area and the ground at another Clinton County site. The incident isn’t listed as resolved until March.

On Feb. 23, hydraulic fluid from a truck at an Anadarko site seeped into a drainage ditch in Clinton County.

On Jan. 18, Enerplus spilled 30 barrels of drilling fluid at a Clinton County site; 10 barrels (420 gallons) made it to the ground.

On Aug. 24, Enerplus released treated flowback fluid onto a Clinton County roadway with drainage to a wetland.

According to the DEP website, these repeat offenders were not fined a single dollar for any of these incidents. But this shouldn’t be surprising.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s future has reported that during the first three months of Gov. Corbett’s administration, enforcement actions dropped from the Rendell administration’s ratio of one enforcement for every 1.7 violations to one enforcement for every 8.69 violations.

Likewise, Clean Water Action of Pennsylvania has analyzed 2011 DEP violation records. It discovered that nine out of 10 violations resulted in no penalties at all.

In fairness to the governor and Sen. Corman, I suspect that underage drinkers and public drunkards have not been as generous as the drilling companies have.

According to Common Cause Pa’s marcellusmoney.org, many elected officials receive money from the gas industry. Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, tops the list of lawmakers with $359,145 and Sen. Corman is in the top five receiving $91,290. But that is overshadowed by the $1,813,305 that has been given to the governor.

Our lawmakers don’t like people to draw assumptions between these contributions and favorable treatment of gas companies, but it’s hard not to when you look at the facts. But at least we no longer have to worry about 18-year-olds spilling 12 ounces of beer in our state forests. 